Ear muff

ABSTRACT

An ear muff, including a support having a fastener integral with a hoop, the fastener including mechanism for gripping, the gripping mechanism including a perimeter defining an aperture, a projection extending into the aperture, the hoop having a rail defining an opening, the hoop having an expanded position and a compressed position, the compressed position being approximately half the diameter than the expanded diameter; and a cover including an outer cover defining an opening and an insulator disposed therein, the opening being sized to receive the hoop in the compressed position and not receive the hoop in the expanded position.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of head gear designed tocover the user's ears and more particularly to ear muffs, which can bejoined to or removed from existing headgear.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Ear protection has been used for many years. Commonly, the protection isused both to avoid damage to the ear drum, e.g., sound control, and toavoid discomfort, e.g., temperate control. Ear protection has taken manyforms including ear plugs and ear muffs for sound control. Ear muffs andhats have been used for temperature control. The ear muff is perhaps themost common ear protection due to its versatility.

Ear muffs are commonly made where one covering for each ear is joinedwith a strap that extends across or behind the head. This is suitablewhere no other form of headgear is being worn that can causeinterference with the strap. On occasion other head gear is desired. Forinstance, the user may be in a location where a hard hat is requiredequipment.

Ear muffs used in conjunction with hard hats require either a band thatis specifically fitted to the hard hat, making the muffs difficult tomass produce, or are secured to the hard hat without a band. This hasresulted in several designs where the muffs are bolted to the hard hat.Bolting the muffs to the hard hat, however, have the drawback of loss ofversatility of the muffs. That is, the muffs are permanently joined toone hat and are not useable with any other headgear.

Ear muffs in general are difficult to clean, requiring the user to placethe muffs and connector into the washing machine in combination. Themuffs position themselves nicely for storage, stacking, but this becomesa drawback in the washing machine, where the stacking precludes washingthe unexposed parts. Thus, when the user washes common ear muff designs,the user risks damage to the connector and is not able to fully cleanthe muffs, typically leaving the parts that will be positioned adjacentthe ears in a dirty state.

Ear muffs typically have a hardened skeletal structure supporting afabric overlay. The hardened structure is forced against the ear to holdthe muff in position. This pressure, while maintaining protection whereit is needed, introduces the problem of discomfort of mashing of theear.

What is needed is an ear muff that is suitable for use with all forms ofhead gear and can be moved from one piece of headgear to another. Themuffs should be easily disassembled to allow for washing of the fabricportions separate from the non-fabric portions. The ear muffs shouldstack for easy storage, yet not stack when being washed. Furthermore,the ear muffs should be designed such that non-fabric portions do notapply pressure to the ears, avoiding the causing of tenderness andirritation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This ear muff is provided with a support and a cover. The support has afastener integral with a hoop and includes mechanism for gripping. Thegripping mechanism includes a perimeter defining an aperture with aprojection extending into the aperture. The hoop has a rail defining anopening. The hoop is designed to have an expanded position and acompressed position. The compressed position is approximately half thediameter than the expanded diameter. The cover defines an opening andhas an insulator disposed within the cover. The opening is sized toreceive the hoop in the compressed position and not receive the hoop inthe expanded position.

An ear muff includes a support having a fastener integral with a hoop.The. support being made of a material having sufficient stiffness andmemory such that it does not deform during normal use and havingsufficient flexibility and memory that it is selectively repositionablerelative to a user while in a use position via bending the support. Acover is disposed about the hoop.

Advantageously, the present invention provides an ear muff, not joinedto a second ear muff, allowing for easier storage within a pants pocket.

Also advantageously, the hoop, having a collapsed and expanded position,allows for easy removal of the cover for washing and maintenance of thecover on the hoop when in use, essentially through a locked and unlockedmechanism based upon the position of the hoop.

As yet another advantage, the ear muffs can be joined to existingheadgear such as baseball style caps, cowboy hats, hard hats, headbands,bandana's or any other form of headgear on which a sweat band or othertype of band may be found.

As still yet another advantage, the support may be bent to move the earmuff closer or further away from the ear.

As another invention, the hoop is sized to fit about the ear, removinghardened parts from being in pressure communication with the ear, whilepositioning the warming, e.g., fabric, portions of the muff against theear.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the present invention in use;

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the present invention mounted to the bandin a hat or other headgear;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the support of the present invention withlining showing the curved hoop portion;

FIG. 4 is a front or back view of the support of the present inventionin the expanded state;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the support of the present invention withlining showing the curved hoop portion and the support being in a bentposition;

FIG. 6 is a front or back view of the support of the present inventionin the compressed state;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the present invention in partial cross section;and

FIG. 8 is a side view of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The ear muff 10 includes a support 20 and a cover 50. The ear muff 10may be sold or used as a pair with a second ear muff 10, e.g., one foreach ear. When used as a pair of ear muffs 10, the ear muffs preferablyare not connected to each other, allowing each muff 10 to be storeseparately or stacked relative to each other. Each component will bediscussed in serial fashion.

The support 20 has a fastener 22 integral with a hoop 34. The support20, if rigid, e.g. substantially non-deformable, may be bent betweenfifteen and thirty degrees between the fastener 22 and hoop 34, whichallows the hoop 34 to be held against the head of the wearer. Flexiblesupports 20 may be bent by the user as the need arises. That is, thefastener 22 may be formed out of the same piece of material with thehoop 34 perhaps by die cutting or molding. The support 20 has thepurpose and effect of supporting the cover 50 and connecting the earmuff 10 to a form of headgear 12, including baseball style caps, cowboyhats, hard hats, headbands, bandana's, etc., The support 20 may be madeof a material having sufficient stiffness and memory such that it doesnot deform during normal use and has sufficient flexibility and memorythat it is selectively repositionable relative to a user while in a useposition via bending the support. For instance, the support 20 willremain in the straight position shown in FIG. 3 during normal use orselectively repositioned, at the behest of the user into the bentposition shown in FIG. 5 where it will remain during normal use untilthe user decides to reposition into the straight position. The preferredmaterial is HDPE or ABS Polycarbonate without or without fillers ormodifiers.

The fastener 22 may include mechanism for gripping 24. The grippingmechanism 24 may include a perimeter 26 defining an aperture 32 and aprojection 28 extending into the aperture 32. In such configuration, thegripping mechanism 24 may secure the ear muff 10 to headgear 12 in muchthe same manner as a paperclip holds papers together. That is, theprojection 28 is sized to be positioned on one side of a band 14 ofheadgear 12 while the perimeter 26 is positioned on the opposite side ofthe band 14, trapping the band 14 therebetween. The support 20 generallyis trapped between the user's head and the band 14, adding additionalstrength and support. The projection 28 may have teeth 30 adapted togrip the band 14 of headgear 12. Alternatively, the projection 28 may becoated with a non-slip material adapted to grip a band 14 of headgear12. This configuration of the fastener 22 is particularly advantageousin that it allows the user to secure the ear muffs 10 in a use positionover the ears as shown in FIG. 1 and the ear muffs may be inverted tosecure the muffs 10 to the headgear 12 upwardly away from the ears ofthe user in a non-use position. Other fastening mechanisms may be used,although such fastening mechanisms are generally expected to not providethe advantages of that shown and described with respect to the presentinvention.

The hoop 34 has a rail 36 that defines an opening 38. The hoop 34 has anexpanded position as shown in FIG. 4 and a compressed position as shownin FIG. 6. The compressed position preferably are approximately half thediameter than the diameter of the expanded position, although differentrelative dimensions are utilitarian. The hoop 34 extends downwardly fromthe band 14 when in a use position and upwardly from the band 14 when ina non-use position. The hoop 34 is sufficiently larger than a human earsuch that the hoop 34 is adapted to fit about, e.g., encase, a human earwhen the ear muff 10 is in a use position. That is, the support 20 doesnot apply pressure to the ear, which is only in contact with the warmingparts of the muff 10, e.g. cover 50.

The cover 50 included an outer cover 52 defining an opening 54 and aninsulator 56 disposed therein. The cover 50 may be gathered at theopening 54 with elastic or hook and loop fabric, although such gatheringis unnecessary in view of the flexibility of the hoop 34. The opening 54preferably is sized to receive the hoop 34 in the compressed position(FIG. 6) and not receive the hoop 34 in the expanded position (FIG. 4).That is, the hoop 34 may be compressed and the cover 50 removedtherefrom for washing, and placed back into the cover 50 for use. Thehoop 34 is repositioned into the expanded position to keep the cover 50from being inadvertently removed therefrom.

An insulator 56 may be positioned inside the cover 50 Such insulator 56may include foam padding, quilted fabrics or any other material, or lackthereof that operates to keep the user's ears warm. The insulator 56 canbe sized to fit inside the hoop 34 when the hoop 34 is in the expandedposition.

Although the present invention has been described with reference topreferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize changesmay be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

1) An ear muff, comprising: a support having a fastener integral with ahoop, the fastener including means for gripping, the gripping meansincluding a perimeter defining an aperture, a projection extending intothe aperture, the hoop having a rail defining an opening, the hoophaving an expanded position and a compressed position, the compressedposition being approximately half the diameter than the expandeddiameter; and a cover including an outer cover defining an opening andan insulator disposed therein, the opening being sized to receive thehoop in the compressed position and not receive the hoop in the expandedposition.
 2. An ear muff, comprising: a support having a fastenerintegral with a hoop, the hoop having an expanded position and acompressed position, the compressed position being approximately halfthe diameter than the expanded diameter, and a cover defining anopening, the opening being sized to receive the hoop in the compressedposition and not receive the hoop in the expanded position.
 3. Thedevice of claim 2 wherein the fastener includes a perimeter defining anopening and a projection extending into the opening.
 4. The device ofclaim 3 wherein the projection is sized to be position on one side of aband of headgear while the perimeter is positioned on the opposite sideof the band, trapping the band therebetween.
 5. The device of claim 4wherein the hoop extends downwardly from the band when in a use positionand upwardly from the band when in a non-use position.
 6. The device ofclaim 3 wherein the projection has teeth adapted to grip a band ofheadgear.
 7. The device of claim 3 wherein the projection is coated witha non-slip material adapted to grip a band of headgear.
 8. The device ofclaim 2 further comprising a second ear muff.
 9. The device of claim 8wherein the first ear muff and second ear muff are not joined to eachother.
 10. The device of claim 2 further including an insulatorpositioned inside the cover.
 11. The device of claim 10 wherein theinsulator is sized to fit inside the hoop when the hoop is in theexpanded position.
 12. The device of claim 2 wherein the hoop issufficiently larger than a human ear such that the hoop is adapted tofit about a human ear when the ear muff is in a use position.
 13. Thedevice of claim 2 wherein the support is made of a material havingsufficient stiffness and memory such that it does not deform duringnormal use and having sufficient flexibility and memory that its isrepositionable relative to a user while in a use position via bendingthe support.
 14. The device of claim 2 wherein the cover is gathered atthe opening with elastic.
 15. An ear muff, comprising: a support havinga fastener integral with a hoop, the support being made of a materialhaving sufficient stiffness and memory such that it does not deformduring normal use; and a cover disposed about the hoop, the cover beingselectively removable from the support.
 16. The device of claim 15wherein the hoop has an expanded position and a compressed position, thecompressed position being approximately half the diameter than theexpanded diameter.
 17. The device of claim 16 wherein the cover definesan opening, the opening being sized to receive the hoop in thecompressed position and not receive the hoop in the expanded position.18. The device of claim 2 further comprising a second ear muff.
 19. Thedevice of claim 8 wherein the first ear muff and second ear muff are notjoined to each other.
 20. The device of claim 2 further including aninsulator positioned inside the cover.